THE SWEET, SAD YEARS.
The sweet sad years; the sun, the rain,
Alas! too quickly did they wane,
For each some boon, some blessing bore;
Of smiles and tears each had its store,
Its chequered lot of bliss and pain.
Although it idle be and vain,
Yet cannot I the wish restrain
That I had held them evermore,
The sweet sad years!
Like echo of an old refrain
That long within the mind has lain,
I keep repeating o'er and o'er,
"Nothing can e'er the past restore,
Nothing bring back the years again,
The sweet sad years!"
Rev. Charles D. Bell, D.D.